Cabaye interview with the recently banned from St James Park the telegraph lol Pete Yohan Cabaye: Newcastle manager Alan Pardew in trouble now, so Im sad for him. The players must work harder Alan Pardew specifically blamed a 4-0 defeat by Manchester City last season on the Frenchman having his heard turned by an offer from Arsenal. By Oliver Brown 8:41PM BST 03 Oct 2014 Former Newcastle midfielder is enjoying life at Paris St-Germain but is still concerned by troubles at St James Park and does not blame the manager Yohan Cabaye cleaves to the proverb that resentment is a loss of happiness. La rancune est une perte de bonheur, as they say in his corner of the 16th arrondissement. Swapping his disciples in the Gallowgate End for the Qatari blandishments at Paris St-Germain made the midfielder persona non grata at Newcastle United, with manager Alan Pardew in particular, and yet as he surveys the clubs pitiful predicament, he feels not satisfaction but sorrow. The manager is in trouble now, so Im sad for him, Cabaye says, matter-of-factly. Even when I was there, the manager showed us the way to play. It is the players who have to work harder. One must marvel at his capacity for burying grudges, given that Pardew specifically blamed a 4-0 defeat by Manchester City last season on the Frenchman having his head turned by an offer from Arsenal, in a transfer that finally culminated nine months ago in a £19 million switch to the Parc des Princes. But if Pardew were to contact Cabaye today for a peace-making peppermint soda – or perhaps something stronger, in light of the Newcastle fans mounting rebellion – the offer would be gladly accepted. At the time, I didnt have any occasion to speak with him or even call him, he reflects. But if he texts me and wants to meet me in Paris, then it would be with pleasure. He gave me everything when I arrived three years ago, so for me he is a good manager and he will stay the same in my mind. Cabaye is so naturally well-mannered that it is a stretch to credit Pardews depiction of him becoming a destabilising influence on the Newcastle dressing room. Of the besieged manager, he says: I like him, because he gave me confidence. He was really close to the players, talking to them a lot and in a positive way. He helped us in our minds to play well. He put trust in all of us. Of Mike Ashley, still standing by Pardew even when the last thread of patience from the fan base has long since snapped, he claims: The owner was fantastic with me, and my family as well. He told the truth to me all the time. He did what he said he would, so I cannot complain. My time at Newcastle was happy and I will never forget it. Just when Pardew feels the loneliest soul on Tyneside, finding himself taunted by those who abhor his obstinate ways and the six seasons left on his eight-year contract, he discovers an unlikely source of solidarity in the player he most bitterly criticised. Cabaye, who specifically sends his good wishes for Newcastles visit to Swansea this afternoon, says: When a team are at the bottom of the league. Everyone blames the manager, but it is the fault of the footballers. He has to be strong. Cabaye was not the only prominent departure from Newcastle, with his close friend Hatem Ben Arfa falling out with Pardew to such an extent that his future was untenable. The relationship with the manager was wrong, it wasnt very good. The best thing for Hatem was to leave. For his part Cabaye was convinced, at 28, that if he did not submit to the approach of PSG, with their avowed intention of joining Europes aristocracy, he never would. Heralded as an exceptionally creative and versatile midfield talent from his early days at Lille, he was faced with the type of offer which, for all Newcastles reliance upon his gifts, he had always merited. I have a lot of affection for Newcastle, but in my view PSG are now one of the big powers in Europe. So I didnt want to let it go, to let the chance pass away from me. That was my principal reason. Upon his restoration to the French league, after leaving three years ago, Cabaye found the landscape irrevocably transformed by the Qatar takeover of PSG and the extravagant investment of Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev in Monaco, games beamed back live to a British audience on BT Sport. There are so many impressive teams in the French league now: PSG, Monaco, Marseille, Lyon, Lille. It has all changed, I came back and was playing for the biggest team in France. Even the smallest team wants to do well against us. They defend very hard. Its very difficult to win a game in the French league now. While PSG have started their domestic campaign tentatively, with five draws in their first eight, last weeks 3-2 vanquishing of Barcelona signalled that talk of their Champions League-winning calibre might not be premature. After all, in Edinson Cavani and shamelessly arrogant magician Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Cabaye has the finest strikers on the continent to help accentuate his attributes. He speaks enthusiastically about his experience of ‘Ibra-cadabra thus far, but highlights how the incorrigible Zlatan has steel allied to the silk. Oh, he is very hard, Cabaye says. He wants to play very well every day, and he is mad on himself if he doesnt do something right. He can be mad on you, too, if you dont give him the ball. Its fantastic to play with him, with the amount I can learn from him. On whether the victory over Lionel Messi and Neymar represents a quantum shift in PSGs ambitions, he is more cautious. His own development at the club has been less convincing, with frequent substitute appearances and a red card during the recent goalless draw with Evian. Of course I want to play more, especially in the Champions League, but there are so many players with fantastic qualities here. Im at a big club now. So I just have to concentrate and be ready when the manager calls on me to come into the starting XI. For now I have to keep working very hard. Cabaye must hope that his full assimilation comes soon. He turned out for France in all but one of their World Cup games en route to the quarter-finals, and is mindful of a home European Championship on the horizon in 2016, placing arguably the greatest strain upon the national side since they lifted the World Cup in Paris in 1998. Whether it is more stress, Im not sure, but its going to be a big year for us. We need to keep our fans on side, because we are going to play at home. I just hope it will be a big help rather than a big pressure. France was not the only country Cabaye could have represented, however. As the scale of his potential grew clear, he also had an opportunity of playing for Vietnam, the homeland of his maternal grandmother. Still, he remains determined to board a plane for Ho Chi Minh City to trace her roots. I just have to work out when I do it, he says. Maybe I will have time during the summer, but even then we have several friendlies for France, so its going to be tough. But Im very interested to find out all about Vietnam, especially where my grandmother came from. Cabayes journey is turning more exotic with every passing year but it is strangely reassuring for Pardew that, despite all the acrimony, he does not forget his Newcastle chapter.
Posted on: Fri, 03 Oct 2014 21:06:26 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015